Continuous heat-treating furnace



April 27, 1937. R. s. FEARNSIDE 2,078,905

CONTINUOUS HEAT TREATING FURNACE III IIE- E- I 6, M d/ April`27, 1937.R. s. FEARNslDE CONTINUOUS vHEAT TREATING FLIRACE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledDec. 9, 1955 l ArroH/vfy Patented Apr. 27, 1937 PATENT orrice 2,078,905CNTIN'Uos HEAT-TREATIN'G FURNACE Ralph S. Fearnsidfe, Detroit, Mich.,assigner to Surface Combustion Corporation, Toledo, Ohio,

a corporation (if New Y ork Application ecemter 9, 1935', serial No.53,566

9' Claims.

This invention has for its object to provide a heat-treating furnacewhich shallembody iniprovements inmeans for moving trays or the likethrough the furnace in a manner to permit the trays to tilt and dumptheir contents in passing across the mouth of a chute in the furnace.

The various features of novelty and invention will be fully explained inconnection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this l0specification and wherein- Fig. 1 is a :top plan View of the improvedfurnace with parts broken away -to show certain features ofconstruction; i

Fig. 2 is aside elevationvof the furnace with parts in section the partsin section being along the medial line of the furnace;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary sectional view of parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 3; y v

Fig` 6 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 6, and

Fig. `8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 except that it Shows how byarranging the pans end for end as compared with those in Fig. 6, thepans will pass r out of the heating chamber right side up instead ofupside down as in Fig. 6.

The heating chamber of the furnace is a metal muiie I0 which extendsbetween and through the end walls il and I2 of a firing chamber i3 whichis iired in any preferred way as by burners I4 in the side wallsthereof, the chamber having an opening I5 in its roof for the escape ofproducts of combustion.

The muflle is supported on rollers I6 in the chamber I3 to permitexpansion and contraction of the munie. At a point near the exit end ofthe `muflle is a chute l1 the mouth of which is in the iioor of themuiile. This chute has an extension I 3 which passes through an upwardlyangled bottom portion I9 -of the chamber I3 and thence into a quenchtank 20. Y

The trays which are to be passed through the mulile are generallyindicated at 25. Each tray is in the form of a pan having oppositelyextending side fingers 26. Each pan has side walls 21 but has only asingle end wall 29. The fingers are shown as provided with sleeverollers 28 but such rollers need not be provided. The pans enter themuffle at the left hand end thereof as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2; andwhile they are being moved toward the chute I'i they rest on a platform36 which is part of the muffle floor. In passing the mouth of the chutel1 the pans are supported v lingers in which event after dumping theircontents they will pass out of the muiile right side up as shown in Fig.8. On emerging from the 15 muffle the pans are manually carried back tothe front end of the muliie for reloading preparatory to again beingpassed through the Inutile as will now be understood.

The side walls of the muiiie are indicated at 2O 32 (see Figs. 5 and 7)and these walls extend below the 'level of the `platform 30 whereby toform side channels 33 ateither side of the platform. These channelsextend throughout the full length of the mufiie. Where the channels passthe mouth of the -chute Il their inner `side walls at their upper edgestogether Aconstitute the track 3i previously referred to for supportingthe pans 25 on their fingers 26 as the pans pass across the mouth of thechute. Since` the mouth of the 30 chute is necessarily somewhat widerthan the platform 36, to permit the pans to tilt in passing said mouth,the inner side Walls of the channels are closer to the respective sidewalls 32 of the muiiie (and from that point on to the exit end of themuffle) then in their preceding portion (in this connection see Figs. 5and 7) Slidably supported in each channel 33 is a U- shapeY beam Sii ofa length to extend through and beyond the ends of the muflie; andslidably sup- 40 ported on and between the side walls of each beam isabar 35 the top side of which is of sawtooth form to provide a series ofinclines 36. `Extending between and supported by the side walls of eachbeam 313 is a series of uniformly spaced 4'5 pivot pins 31 and mountedon each pin is an upturned hook 38, the free end of each hook rest-` ingon the underlying bar 35. The `distance between the pins 31 4is the sameas the` distance between the inclines 36 and the distance between 50 theinclines is at least as great or greater than the length of the pans 25.The length of the hooks is, of course, less than the distance betweenthe inclines.

The purpose of the bars 35 is to raise and lower 55 the hooks 38 andthis is, of course, accomplished by moving the bars relatively to theirrespective beams 34. A pin and slot connection or other equivalentmechanism limits the distance that the bars can be moved relatively totheir beams to that which is required to raise and lower the hooks. Apin and slot connection is shown; the pin 40 is shown as carried by thebars 35 slot 4i as being formed in the side walls of the beams 34. Whenthe hooks are in elevated position they extend sufficiently above thelevel of the platform 3E) to interengage with the pan fingers 26 whereaswhen they are in lowered position they are free to pass below saidfingers. It will, therefore, be readily appreciated that by moving thebeams toward the right when the hooks are in elevated position the panswill also be moved toward the right.

The bars 35 are moved with respect to their beams 34 and the latter arereciprocated by one and the same mechanism. This mechanism is shown ascomprising a power operated device 43 having a crank 44 to which isconnected a link 45 having two arms which connect with individualupright levers 46 pivoted as at 41 to a base 48 the upper ends of thelevers being connected by links 49 to lugs 55 integral with the bars 35.

It will now be readily appreciated that the bars 35 are reciprocatedthrough a stroke which is longer than the stroke of the beams 34; thatat the beginning of each stroke of the bars the beams remain at astandstill until the bars have traveled the distance permitted by thelost motion between the bars and beams; that after the bars havetraveled the said distance the beams are moved along with the bars tothe end of the stroke of the latter, and that although the pans aremoved simultaneously they are nevertheless moved independently of eachother.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for sliding objects along a 1ongitudinally extendingsupport, the combination comprising a reciprocable beam which extendslengthwise of said support, a reciprocable bar slidably supported on thebeam, and means for reciprocating the beam and bar as a unit includingmeans for moving the bar a portion of its stroke before the beam ismoved along in the same direction as the bar.

2. In apparatus for sliding objects along a longitudinally extendingsupport, the combination comprising a reciprocable beam extendinglengthwise of said support, a reciprocable bar supported on the beam,the stroke of the bar being greater than that of the beam, means forcontinually reciprocating the bar, and means for moving the beam alongwith the bar after the latter has traveled a distance equal to thedifference in length between the said strokes.

3. In apparatus for sliding objects along a floor having a channelextending longitudinally thereof, the combination comprising areciprocable beam slidably supported in said channel, a reciprocable barslidably mounted on said beam, the bar'having a longer reciprocatingstroke than the beam, means for continually reciprocating the bar, andmeans for causing the beam to travel with the bar after the bar hastraveled a portion of its stroke.

4. In apparatus for sliding objects along a longitudinally extendingsupport, the combination comprising a reciprocable beam, verticallymovable means carried by the beam, and a longitudinally reciprocable barcarried by said beam for raising said vertically movable means beforethe beam is moved in one direction and for lowering the same before thebeam is moved in the opposite direction.

5. In apparatus for sliding trays having trunnions along a support, thecombination comprising a reciprocable beam extending lengthwise of saidsupport, a reciprocable bar carried by said beam and having a series ofinclines on its upper side, a series of upturned hooks adapted to engagewith said trunnions and pivoted to said beam and arranged to be raisedand lowered by said bar as the latter is reciprocated, means forreciprocating the bar, and means including said bar for reciprocatingsaid beam.

6. In apparatus for sliding objects along a longitudinally extendingsupport, the combination comprising a reciprocable beam extendinglength- Wise of said support, a bar slidably supported on said beam, alost motion connection between the beam and bar for permitting limitedlongitudinal movement therebetweeen, means for reciprocating the barthrough a stroke which is more than sufcient to take up the slackprovided by the lost motion connection whereby to cause the beam to bemoved along with the bar after the said slack is taken up, andvertically movable means adapted to engage said objects and carried bythe beam and arranged to be raised and lowered by said bar as the lattermoves longitudinally with respect to the beam..

7. In apparatus for sliding trays having trunnions along a oor having alongitudinally extending channel, the combination comprising a beamarranged in the channel, means including a reciprocable bar on the beamfor reciprocating the beam, and means including vertically movable meanscarried by the beam for moving the trays along the floor as the beam isreciprocated.

8. In apparatus for sliding trays having trunnions along a floor havingtwo parallelly extending channels, the combination comprising a beamarranged in each channel, a bar slidably supported on each beam, meansincluding said bars for reciprocating the several beams in unison, meansincluding vertically movable means on each beam for engaging saidtrunnions for moving the trays along the floor as the beams arereciprocated, said floor having its longitudinal continuity interruptedby an unbridged space, and a track at either side of said space fortiltably supporting each tray on its trunnions as it is moved acrosssaid space.

9. In apparatus for sliding trays having trunnions along a support, thecombination comprising a beam, means for reciprocating the beam, meansincluding a series 0I upwardly-facing hooks hinged to the beam forengaging said trunnions for moving the trays along said support as thebeam is reciprocated, and means slidably carried by the beam for raisingand lowering the hooks.

RALPH S. FEARNSIDE.

